


A Mermaid in Shark's Domain

by alliepi314, Edajjan



Category: Free!, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, Fanfiction, Free! AU, M/M, Murder, Romance, Tragedy, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-06-06 05:44:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6740920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliepi314/pseuds/alliepi314, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edajjan/pseuds/Edajjan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the short update. As the title suggests, it's meant to be more of a transitional chapter. There's more coming soon, so stay tuned in!</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. Homecoming - Haru

Haruka glanced out the clouded window of his train car, music softly blaring through his earbuds. A gloomy fog sat over the ocean, blocking the view of what he had missed the most. He knew that this would be an awful year at school.  
It had been at least ten years since Haru had been in his hometown. He moved away to a more inland town at a young age, leaving all of his beloved friends behind. However, in the time he was away, it seemed that most of their faces had begun to fade.  
'Nagisa, Makoto, and...Rin I think...' He thought to himself, trying to remember the names of the few friends he had as a child. He wondered if his old friends had forgotten about him by now; it would only be fair to the piss-poor friend he had become. Haru began to shift around uncomfortably. Some may think it would be because of anticipation or anxiety, though really it was because of the many lumps in his cheap seat.


	2. Shark and Mouse - Rin

"STAY DOWN YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Rin stood there with lifeless eyes as he watched his comrade beat some mousey blonde kid into an utter pulp. After all, he should've known better than to be on Shark territory. Rin was half surprised that the mosquitos hadn't come and cuffed them by now. Though, perhaps the thick fog overlaying the town was the perfect cover after all.

"P-please, stop...please..." The boy whimpered softly, his face and body badly bruised from the many punches that he had collected. Blood started to drip down his near-purple face, having high contrast in spots that had been left unbruised. It seemed as though he lost a little bit of his innocence each time a punch was thrown in his face.

“I SAID STAY DOWN FAGGOT!"

“Yo, Sousuke, lay off a bit will ya? We’ll get in more trouble with the mosquitos if we kill him.” Rin said, grabbing at Sousuke’s shoulder.  
“You’re lucky he stepped in you little punk, next time keep your fucking faggotry off our territory!” Sousuke said, voice laced with malice. He kicked him once more for good measure and the two thugs turned to leave.

\---------------------------

Though the fog made it near impossible to navigate, Rin made it home without any issue. His clothes were damp from all of the moisture in the air, but nothing worth changing outfits for. All he wanted to do was pass out after the stressful day he had.

“And where the hell were you?!” Rin paused to see his younger sister Gou, ‘Kou’ as she prefers, in a pair of yellow pajamas standing behind him in the hallway.

“I was out,” he said cooly,“Is that so unusual?”

“It is when I’m not getting the whole story!” She replied hotly, “It’s two in the morning, you think I don’t know what you were up to? With you and your ‘friends’?”  
Rin averted her eyes. His sister had known about the gang’s activities for quite some time. She never liked the idea of it of course, but recently, it seemed to be wearing her unusually thin.

“It’s just...there was this damn Iwatobi kid on our territory…” He said trying to defend himself, though it was obviously not working.

“IWATOBI?! You beat up a kid from Iwatobi? Don’t you know how prestigious of a school that is? Something like this won’t be given a blind eye Rin! Do you even understand how serious this is?”  
Gou had a point, he couldn’t keep up this nonsense forever. Along with being in a gang, Rin had a swim club to worry about. The club definitely wouldn’t allow him to be there upon discovery of the countless terrible things he had done.

Rin sighed. “Alright Gou, I’ll-"

“Kou.” she interjected.

“Right, Kou. Anyway, as I was saying, I know you don’t like the things I do. Sometimes I don’t like the things I do. I’ve started liking these awful things less and less everyday! So maybe you’re right for once…” The two looked each other for a moment, Gou’s eyes filled with compassion. She leaned in for a hug, though Rin rejected it by taking a step back and folding his arms. In that moment the pity in her eyes gave way to grief.

“...Get to bed,” she began in a soft voice, “We have school today.” Without another word, they turned to their separate rooms with unresolved feelings. Although this was a silent night, Rin definitely wouldn’t be getting any sleep.


	3. Grey - Haru

It was finally time to begin at the prestigious Iwatobi High School. Haru donned his freshly laundered uniform and looked at himself in the mirror. Despite his unbrushed hair and tired expression, he didn’t look like complete shit. It’s not like he ever really cared much about his appearance anyway. After scarfing down his breakfast, he made his way to the hell-hole that would be school. The fog that covered the town previously had lifted, but the sky was still a dull grey.

Once at school, Haru received prying glances from several people. Probably because he was a new face in the crowd, or maybe simply because of the unbrushed hair. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a small, blonde, student standing next to his newly designated locker, sobbing uncontrollably into the chest of a much taller boy. While he didn’t want to interrupt their public display of affection, his locker was inaccessible with them in the way.

“Excuse me...are you two okay?” Haru said, trying to sound as concerned as possible. Although he really didn’t care that much.  
The taller boy looked up at Haru with a careless look, obviously not wanting to share such private information with a complete stranger.

“We’re fine.” The boy said, leaving no kindness to his words and he left with the teary blonde under his arm.  
Haru then proceeded to his first class without second thought of the scene he had just witnessed. Homeroom was no different than it was at his last school. Stand, bow, sit, and then some useless lecture about something that he’ll never actually need to know.

\---------------------------

The day had gone by without issue. No swarms of people with mountains of dumb questions, or even any questions at all. It was almost as if the teachers had disregarded the existence of a new student. Haru never cared for attention, so maybe it would be good to keep things how they were.  
As Haru walked down to his locker for the last time of the day, he noticed the small, blonde boy from earlier. This time Haru was able to see his face as it wasn’t buried in someone else’s jacket; now he could clearly see the profuse amount of bruises and bandages enveloping the boy’s frail face. With even further inspection of his face, Haru realized that this was someone he never thought he would see again in his pitiful existence.

“Nagisa?”


	4. The Promenade - Haru

“Hey, thanks for walking me home…” Nagisa said softly, averting his eyes.

“No problem.” Haru replied, Nagisa had explained to him what had happened within the past few months. Apparently there was a rise in gang activity around the area, the most active being The Sharks. At first they had just been verbal bullies, calling people like Nagisa ‘faggot’ or ‘sausage muncher’. It had already been hurtful enough, but then they had become more aggressive, beating up anyone who dared to step into their ‘territory’ or anyone they believed deserved a good beat down. Nagisa had been no exception. There wasn’t a way to tell where any territorial borders were, and it seemed like Nagisa was just one of their favorite bags of meat to kick around.

“Nagisa,” Haru started. “Why do you put up with all of this? Haven’t you called the police?” Nagisa let out a low chuckle and looked up at Haru with his purple, bandaged face.

“You think I haven’t tried that?” His voice heavy with tears, “The police won’t do anything about it! Besides, the gang leader’s dad is the district chief...He’ll do anything to keep his kid out of jail…”  
Haru said nothing else for the remainder of the walk. He was able to get Nagisa home safely, though a part of him wanted to do something more. Nagisa shouldn’t have to endure constant torture, but Haru didn’t want to go looking for a fight. Besides, taking on a gang may as well be considered a suicide mission.


	5. Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Rin

The school day was cut short for Rin, by choice of course. He had cut school so many times at this point that people had just stopped caring altogether. As he made his way to the Sharks’ meeting in town, Rin noticed a very minimal amount of sunlight poking through the clouds, probably meaning that it was going to rain for the third time that week. Fucking great.

Although he was the leader of the gang, Rin wasn’t quite sure where his loyalty laid anymore. He had hospitalized many, a few were even near-death situations. He had blood on his hands, and hated it. Rin had even been through times where he ended up hurting people around him that he cared for, that he loved. People like Nitori. Nitori had been one of Rin’s best friends ever since he moved schools. Everything had been great between them, until the day Nitori confessed his true feelings about Rin. He didn't know what to do or say, so he just ran. He ran to his other friends in the gang and told them all about what had happened. They convinced Rin that Nitori was just a “predatory faggot” that needed to learn his lesson. Later that awful day, he met up with Nitori, his face was beaming with happiness. He probably thought Rin was going to accept his feelings, but as he stepped forward, Rin brought down his mighty fist of justice. Right into Nitori’s face.

Rin hurt someone that he cared about, someone who he could have happily spent the rest of his life with. 

 

 

But he could never do that now, because Nitori was dead.


	6. Someone - Haru

Another day passed and Haru officially begun spending time with his old friend again. The two of them were walking toward the cafeteria when Haru slowed to ask Nagisa a question

“So Nagisa,” Haru started curiously. “ You do have a boyfriend right? Why haven’t you asked him to walk you home?”

Nagisa gave yet another one of his pitiful looks, Haru knew that he was going to get another bullshit answer from the cinnamon roll.

“Yes, well…he’s already so busy with track practice after school and has especially been having trouble with things as of lately. I just...don’t want to be a bother, you know?” Nagisa gave a shy smile. Haru knew what was going on, Nagisa didn’t want help, he wanted the attention that came with needing help, so he let people repeatedly pound him in day after day.

Finally, Haru pulled him aside. “Nagisa, you need to let people help you. Don’t worry about getting in their way or being a bother. What you have on your shoulders right now is more important than any track meet. If that boy really loves you, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to protect you from those awful people.”   
Nagisa looked completely shaken, his eyes were beginning to tear up again. Haru could tell that he was being sincere instead of choking up dry alligator tears.

“Th-thank you Haru-chan…”

\---------------------------

From then on, Nagisa was walked home by his boyfriend, Rei. Haru still kept to himself. He talked to Nagisa every once in awhile, but he was just a quiet loner at heart. However, on one sunny weekend, Haru decided to take a walk around the quiet town that he called home. The warm sun was beating down on his neck; it was incredibly hot for an autumn day. Haru took off his sweatshirt and began to look for a cool place to rest. He came across a large alleyway that was heavily shaded. Though once he got closer he noticed someone was already sitting there, possibly even sleeping.

“Hey,” Haru said. “Mind if I sit?” The boy lifted up his head, even though he was wearing a beanie, Haru could see tufts of maroon hair sticking out of the edges.

“Yeah whatever…” He grunted in reply. His eyes were the same color as his hair, though there was something about them that seemed familiar. Haru was certain that he had seen the same soft eyes on someone else, someone that he trusted a long time ago.

“Hey, so...I don't happen to know you do I?” Haru asked nervously.

“Depends on who's asking.” The stranger grunted. Haru could tell that he was starting to get annoyed.

“Err...Nanase Haruka, though most people just know me as Haru.” Then the boy sat up and took a good, long look at Haru. His eyes suddenly widened, erasing any trace of sleepiness left in his red eyes. He then shot himself upward and straightened out his baggy clothing.

“I need to go.” He whispered, nearly inaudible. Haru then found himself sitting alone in a dank, shady alleyway, he suddenly noticed the faint smell of mildew and presence of various pill bottles. He realized that the guy was probably trying to get stoned here. He realized that it would probably be best to leave before someone came along and thought the same of him. As Haru walked back home he began to realize how stupid it was to give a complete stranger his full name, and without even getting one in return. 

He shrugged it off, he’d never see that guy again anyway.


	7. The Break Away - Rin

Rin couldn’t believe what had just happened, it was like seeing a ghost. On top of all the confusion that Rin had, he couldn't help but notice something lingering over every other emotion.

“What was this feeling? This burning in his chest? His throat felt tight like a hand was gripping it with the force of a vice.” He immediately attributed it to anxiety, but then why would he be anxious?” He thought about it for a moment……. 

“No! It can't be that! I'm not…” Rin desperately tried to remember the faces of all of the girlfriends he had in the past, but as he burrowed further into his memory, he realized that he'd only ever had one girlfriend. A grade school girlfriend of whom he couldn't recall the name of. He’d only been in a relationship with her for less than a recess. Then his mind began to drift towards Nitori. Nitori was kind, and his gray hair always brightened his smile. Rin remembered just how bright it was-that day. Rin shuddered, he didn't want to think about what he'd done. His cloaked feelings only brought irreversible pain and, in the end, death, to the person he loved most, and now the guilt was with him forever. He couldn't let Haru end up the same way.

It was decided, Rin was going to break his ties with The Sharks. Even if he was the leader, now was the time to disband, or get a new leader… 

\---------------------------

The following days were complete torture. Although Rin was planning to break away from The Sharks, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He knew what his peers were capable of, and that his actions could never go without being questioned. Finally, he called up Sousuke and told him to gather up as many Sharks as he could for an important meeting. Now all he had to do was lie and wait.

\---------------------------

“So what’s up Rin?” Sousuke asked, “Everyone’s here so...yeah dude, go ahead.” Rin looked around, all seventeen of The Sharks, his friends were looking at him dead-on with anticipation. Rin went pale, he opened his mouth, but hesitated as tears began to form in his eyes. He tried to turn away so that none of them would see, but Momotaru walked up and put his hand on Rin’s shoulder.

“Hey,” he started, a concerned look on his face. “Whatever it is, we're here for you man…” Rin wiped his tears and sat cross-legged on the ground.

“I-I…” What was he going to say? That he was in love with a man, with Haru? No, not to his homophobic friends, not when that's what got someone he cared about killed. There was something else that he had to say, something that was still important and true to him. “I can't deal with this anymore guys!” His face turning as red as his hair. “I can't handle the violence! I can't handle the blood on my hands! Nitori was one of us and I KILLED HIM!” Rin stared at the looks of shock and horror strewn across the faces of his comrades. Momotaru backed away into the crowd in disbelief.

“Is that what you care about?” Momotaru said shakily. “You care about some fag?!” Rin stood up.

“WHY THE FUCK WOULDN’T I?! HE WAS MY FRIEND, AND I THOUGHT THAT YOU GUYS WERE TOO!” 

“So that's it? Your panties are in a knot because of something you did?” Sousuke said with nonchalance, “Something that we helped cover up, because yeah we're not friends. I threw my ass on the fire for someone that I don't even like. That's totally logical, Rin. So what is it really?”

Rin was frozen, he couldn't think. Sousuke had pushed him into a tight corner and there was no coming out, literally. He had to think of something, and fast.

“It's just that, it's-it's…” Rin sputtered.

“It's what?!”

“It's Gou!” He spat, “She's, uh-she's not okay with this stuff anymore, and well I thought maybe I should start listening to her for once. Ya know?”

Everyone was chatting amongst themselves, their muffled voices filled Rin’s head with anxiety and racing thoughts.

“So you're leaving just because some bitch is breathing down your neck?” These words cost Rin the little remaining sanity. He whirled around and stalked toward the small gathering of Sharks who readily fanned themselves out, exposing the one who damned himself. Rin grabbed him by the neck and squeezed steady and firm for a few seconds, making the uncouth scumbag out a painful screech, his air supply had only been cut off for a moment but he was desperately begging for air.

“Don't you ever talk about my sister like that. Understand?” Rin let go of the poor bastard’s neck just as the corners of his mouth were turning a dark shade of blue. No one said anything. Everyone was silent as as Rin treaded off into the distance. There was no way in hell that he would go back, not that they would want him anyway.


	8. Transition - Rin

Rin was furious. He always knew the Sharks were bad people, but they were his only friends and he thought that he could trust them. Now all he had left was Gou...and Haru. Then it hit him, Rin had given up his only friends for a boy. He wasn't even sure if Haru returned his feelings or not, and neither of them had really spoken to each other since they were kids. Rin realized he made a huge mistake, and he was going to fix it this time. In one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short update. As the title suggests, it's meant to be more of a transitional chapter. There's more coming soon, so stay tuned in!


	9. Reunion - Haru

Haru walked out of school with a sly grin on his face. It was finally the weekend. No homework, no plans, all he wanted to do was veg out in his underwear under a large blanket. As he approached the school gates, he noticed a faintly-recognizable mass of maroon hair. Wanting to get a closer look he paces himself toward the familiar figure, but in the hectic mass of students trying to exit the school grounds, Haru lost sight of the stranger. After another quick look of the area he first spotted the red-haired person, he shrugged it off and continued toward home. However, not even five minutes later, Haru heard a voice from behind.

“Hey!” Haru looked back and saw the red-haired boy, panting as if he had run halfway around the world. “Haru! It’s me!” he gasped, still panting heavily. Haru stared at him for a good minute. Haru knew he’d seen this person before but couldn’t quite remember where.

“How do you know my name?” Haru asked cautiously. The boy’s face turned surprised, then fell deep into disappointment.

“You...you mean you don’t remember me?” He said wearily. “Haru, it’s me, Rin Matsuoka.” 

At that moment, Haru remembered. He remembered Rin’s red hair and matching eyes, the time they had spent together before he left all of his friends behind for a new life. Until now that is. Embarrassment flooded him, showing a bit in his ears and cheeks. He’d forgotten one of his best childhood friends.

“Oh my god, Rin! I’m so sorry, it’s just been so long and we haven’t seen each other in years! I’m so sorry, I-” Haru’s jumble of apologies was cut off when he noticed Rin trying to force back a laugh, and failing. Haru couldn’t help but chuckle himself.  
Once the two of them had finally came to their senses, they walked together and attempted to make up for lost time. Haru had told him everything he could about the past years while he was away in another town, a city even. But he noticed that while Rin seemed to be enjoying Haru’s stories, he sensed a sort of disconnect within him. A sort of fear masked by his bright smile, but the eyes hid nothing. As happy as Rin appeared, Haru could see the the pain in his soft eyes, however it wasn’t his place to question so he ignored it. For now at least.

“Hey, so…” Rin said cautiously. “I know it's not generally accepted to invite yourself over, but would you mind if I crashed at your place this weekend? I...I haven’t been feeling incredibly safe at home, so I thought maybe I could stay with you for a couple days or something. I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but maybe that would give us some more time to talk. That could probably wait though...I wouldn’t want to burden you. You probably have plans anyway…” Haru thought about what Rin had said. He technically had plans, but it’s not like they couldn’t happen while Rin was around either. While Haru was reluctant, he really did want to talk to his old friend. Not to mention he still felt bad about not recognizing him at first.

“You’re right,” he said slyly. “I did have plans this weekend.” Him saying that brought immediate disappointment to Rin’s face, so at that moment Haru started again. “But I don’t see why you couldn’t be a part of them.” Haru smiled at Rin’s now surprised expression, though his eyes still said something different. There was a spark of hope in his overlying fear and loneliness, and for once in his life, Haru felt good about himself. He put his arm around Rin’s shoulder, “So are you coming with me or what?” Rin nodded, and somehow they both new that everything from here on would just fine.


	10. Together Again - Haru

“So what are we watching then?” Rin asked, his words muffled by a mouthful of microwave popcorn.

“How do you feel about Labyrinth? We couldn't get enough of it as kids.”

Rin scoffed “Sure, we just couldn't get enough of David Bowie's ginormous bulge. That thing still haunts my dreams.”

“Oh come on, it's great movie and you know it.” Haru smiled, he missed this. Spending time with Rin, throwing careless banter at each other, and having an overall good time with someone he genuinely cares about. It made him feel like he was a little kid again.

The two watched the movie on the floor, comfortably surrounded by layers of pillows and blankets. Haru couldn't help but feel nostalgic, watching one of his favorite childhood movies with one of his favorite childhood friends. But looking at Rin, he could tell that something was making him uneasy, something he was holding back from Haru.

“Hey, Rin.” Haru started, “So about that day I saw you in the alley...I noticed a lot of pill bottles around. Were you…” Haru cut himself off, it was a simple question, but somehow it just couldn't fall from his lips.

“Those were just antidepressants, don't worry about it.” Rin said hastily, he had told Haru not to worry, but that statement made him all the more worrisome.

“You take antidepressants?” he inquired.

“Well...yeah. I guess things haven't been going all that great for a while now. Especially not lately... don't take any offense to this but, you're the last person I have to fall back on…”

“Is that why you don't feel safe at home right now?” Silence. After some time Haru wondered if Rin had fallen asleep.

“Yeah.” Rin finally responded, “partially at least…”

A wave of guilt hit Haru. He could've been there for him, but he wasn't. He'd been gone for so long. He'd been gone when Rin  needed him the most…

Neither spoke to each other for the rest of the night. There was so much they didn't know about each other still, and they both knew that one night wasn't going to enough time to fill in the gaps that their years spent apart had created. Besides, Haru could tell that there were some things Rin couldn't share just yet. But he’d be patient, and stay around until he heard the whole story.


	12. Awake - Rin

A sliver of morning light peered through the thick curtains of Haru’s living room, barely resting on Rin’s face. As he slowly came to, Rin squinted from the the bold rays that had disturbed his warm, peaceful slumber. Once Rin had woken up enough to become aware of his immediate surroundings, he realized that Haru was huddled up very close to him with one of his arms gently caressing Rin's waist. Rin blushed, it was adorable. As much as he wanted stay there and inch further into Haru’s embrace, he didn't want him to wake up to the situation even more. Rin reluctantly moved Haru's arm away, holding his breath, hoping that Haru wouldn't be disturbed by the movement. While he grunted at the light now hitting his eyes, Haru simply rolled onto his other side and continued to sleep.

While he didn’t exactly feel refreshed from his night on the hard flooring, Rin was content, happy even. He was able to see his good friend after so long, and he didn't try to push him away as expected. And now he was standing in Haru's comforting and... quiet home. Maybe too quiet...Rin usually had a healthy amount of yelling at his own house, but here, you could hear a speck of dust when it dropped to the floor. It was entirely possible that Haru's family wasn't around, but it was also pretty early still. At that point, Rin's train of thought was interrupted by growling stomach pains. He needed food.

“I'm sure he won't mind if I scavenge his kitchen a bit…” Rin whispered to himself. Rin walked out of the living room to search for the kitchen, which happened to be the next room over. Aware that there might be sleeping persons in the house, including Haru, he tried his hardest to tread lightly and make as little sound as necessary. It was odd, he'd never put in this amount of effort when walking around his own house. After finding a sparse amount of food lying around, Rin ultimately decided on a yellow, slightly bruised apple and took a large bite without even thinking about washing it off first. Now halfway through the sub-par apple, Rin began to hear the patter of bare footsteps echoing from the adjacent room. Haru walked in, obviously half asleep still, his hair cutely tousled from sleep. 

“... Morning” Haru yawned.

“Heya,” Rin replied. “I, uh, hope you don't mind that I helped myself.” He said, gesturing to the apple in his hand.

Haru squinted, trying to decipher what exactly it was Rin had in his hand, eventually realizing that it was just a golden delicious. “Oh, yeah, you can eat whatever. Though I'm sure you've noticed that there's not a lot of food here, I... usually eat out.”

“Do your folks not cook or something?” Rin asked, genuinely interested.

“No, they...they do, but they're still living in the other town. You know, the one I lived in for the past eight years…” There was clear discontent on Haru's face. “To tell you the truth, things weren't that great for me there…people were-” Haru cut himself off, it was obvious that this was something that he didn't want to share just yet. At least the two of them had something in common. “My parents. They said I could come back for my last year of high school, to Iwatobi, it was my choice. A sort of clean slate I guess…”

“Oh…” Rin said, “I actually know how that feels, wanting to get away from the bad stuff…” In fact, that's why he was there. The two of them stood in an awkward silence for longer than was comfortable.

“Well.” Haru started, breaking the silence with a knife. “I have a bit of money, how's about we go out to get some coffee? Maybe even something more to eat?”

Rin grinned, “I hate coffee.”

Haru smiled, wildly. “Perfect, let's get some non-slept in clothes on then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for not updating on AO3 for a while now...  
> I post to both here and Wattpad, and while I appreciate both fanbases for my story, it gets a lot more attention on Wattpad. Not to mention that AO3 doesn't have a well put-together app yet. I have a laptop now, so I should be able to keep updating on both platforms at the same pace now.  
> Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy it :)


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